LEIKR

I)

(-s, -ar), m. game, play, sport;

láta (vinna) leikinn, to lose (win) the game;

á nýja leik, anew;

við illan leik, narrowly, with a narrow escape (þeir kómust þar yfir við illan leik);

hann segir þeim hvat leika (gen.), hvat í leikum er, he told them what the game was, what was the matter;

leikr er görr til e-s, a person is aimed at, is the mark of an attack;

gera leik til e-s, to mock one.

II)

a. lay (lærðir ok leikir).

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m., dat. leiki is freq. in poetry and old prose, but mod. leik; plur. in old usage always leikar, even in late MSS. such as Fb. iii. 405; but in mod. usage leikir, acc. leiki: the phrase ‘á nýja leik’ seems to point to a lost feminine leik: [Ulf. laiks = χορός, Luke xv. 25; A. S. lâc; North. E. laik; O. H. G. leik; Dan. leg; Swed. lek]:—a game, play, sport, including athletics, Eg. 147, Edda 31–33, Fs. 60; ok eigi var sá leikr er nokkurr þyrfti við hann at keppa, Nj. 29; sjá skulum vér leika þína (not leiki), Fb. iii. 405; leika ok gleði, Fagrsk. ch. 26; slá leik, to set up a game (cp. slá danz), Sturl. ii. 190 (of a game of ball): of a dance, Bret. 42; hann hendi gaman at aflraunum ok leikum, … knattleikar vóru þá tiðir, Eg. 187; leikr var lagiðr á Hvítár-völlum allfjölmennr, 188; sveinninn var á leiki með öðrum ungmennum, Fms. i. 78; fara at (með) leik sínum, to roam about, Boll. 336, Fms. x. 159; hverir eiga hér leik svá újafnan? Nj. 125: of a ceremony, Fbr. 7: of capping verses, Bs. i. 237; cp. streng-leikr, a ‘string-play,’ lay.

2. metaph. a game, sport, Grett. 50 new Ed.; hann segir þeim um hvat leika (gen. pl.) var, he told them what the game was, Fb. i. 325, Fms. ii. 49; sagði hvat í leikum var, Sd. 152; tók leikrinn ekki at batna af þeirra hendi, Fms. vi. 212: the phrase, á nýja leik, anew, Íb. 10, N. G. L. i. 334, Sks. 234, Fms. ix. 274, 284, 370, 401, 409, 511, xi. 62; nýjan leik is a modernized form not found in good old vellums; eptir e-s leik, after one’s good pleasure, Stj. 148: the phrase, leikr er gjörr til e-s, a person is aimed at, is the mark of an attack; þvíat til hans var leikr görr, Ld. 152; göra sér leik til e-s, to act wantonly:—poët. phrase, Hildar leikr, Öðins leikr, sverða, járna leikr, etc., the play of Hilda, of Odin, of swords, of iron = battle, Lex. Poët.; the Freys leikr, the play of Frey, by Hornklofi, Fagrsk. 4 (in a verse), is by the older Grundtvig ingeniously identified with our Yule play, see the connection in which the word stands in the verse. The ancients used to assemble for athletic sports (leik-mót), and during that time they lived in booths or sheds (leik-skáli), even women used to be present as spectators, Eb. ch. 43, Lv. ch. 9, Gísl., Sturl. i. 23. ☞ An interesting description and account of modern games is given by Jón Ólafsson in his Collectanea towards an Icel. Dictionary, s. v. leikr (in the Additam. to the Arna-Magn. Collection in Copenhagen); thus, brúar-leikr, skolla-l., risa-l., húfu-l., felinga-l., and many others. leiks-lok, n. pl.; at leikslokum, finally.